yesterday with reports that Ray Wilkins, manager of Second Division Fulham, had indeed made an inquiry about taking the Coventry City striker on a month's loan.

The latest report, on Fulham's official website, said City manager Gordon Strachan was considering the request over the weekend.

The 29-year-old Bermudian denied any knowledge of the proposed move when contacted by The Royal Gazette on Thursday evening after the story first surfaced on UK newspaper The Daily Mail's Soccernet site.

But the former Walsall player, whose opportunities at Coventry have been limited because of the form of Dion Dublin and Darren Huckerby, admitted he would be interested in any such deal. It would give him the chance of regular first-team football and put him in "the window'', he said.

Former Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan took over as chief operating officer at Fulham earlier this season where he has teamed up with Wilkins, his former England colleague and once boss at fellow west Londoners Queen's Park Rangers.

The pair have been given millions to spend by chairman Mohammed Al Fayed, father of Dodi, who died in the car crash in France with Princess Diana, and already a number of Premiership players have been signed.

Nobody at either club was contactable last night but, perhaps significantly, Lightbourne was left out of the final 16 named for City's 3-1 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday, although he was part of the squad which travelled to Stamford Bridge, which is just minutes from Fulham's Craven Cottage home.

Shawn Goater scored his 15th goal of the season on Saturday as Fulham's Second Division promotion rivals Bristol City won again to leapfrog over Watford to the top of the table by virtue of having scored more goals.

Both teams are now 15 points clear of the next team in the standings, with the top two teams gaining automatic promotion.

Goater hit the first goal as the West Country side overwhelmed Grimsby 4-1.

Fulham are fourth following a 3-0 victory at Wrexham.